1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and system for providing plasma impulses. More particularly it relates using plasma impulses to provide propulsion impulses.
2. Background Information
Atmospheric propulsion, where the ambient air is utilized as the propulsive medium, has many complications and desirable aspects. The aspects include near unlimited fuel (the ambient air is used) and few moving parts. The complications arise in deriving the conditions necessary for plasma motion before recombination, power consumption, and the field conditions necessary for sufficient thrust.
Using plasma instead of ambient air can provide plasma velocities in excess of what can be provided via chemical reactions. A rough estimate of the average temperature of a chemical reaction due to its temperature can be obtained by converting the temperature of the products into energy equivalents and solving for the velocity. The basic relationship between a Maxwellian plasma and temperature can be stated as:
                              E          ave                =                                            1              2                        ⁢                          mv              ave              2                                =                                                    n                d                            2                        ⁢            KT                                              (        1        )            The constant nd is the number of dimensions, for example a strong magnetic field may effectively constrain the particles to travel in one direction so that nd=1, or without a strong magnetic field the particle may be free to move in three dimensions so that nd=3; “K” is the Boltzman constant 1.38×10−23J/° K, and “T” is the temperature in degrees Kelvin. For simplicity's sake only, if the chemical product is hydrogen with a mass of a proton of 1.67×10−27 Kg at a temperature of 11600 K (Kelvin) the average one dimensional thermal velocity is:
                                                                        v                ave                            =                            ⁢                                                                                          n                      d                                        m                                    ⁢                  KT                                                                                                        =                            ⁢                                                                    1                                          1.67                      ×                                              10                                                  -                          27                                                                                                      ⁢                                      (                                          1.38                      ×                                              10                                                  -                          23                                                                                      )                                    ⁢                                      (                                          11600                      ⁢                                                                                          ⁢                      K                                        )                                                                                                                          ≈                            ⁢                              9790                ⁢                                                                  ⁢                m                ⁢                                  /                                ⁢                s                                                                        (        2        )            Thus the velocity of a hydrogen chemical product at 11600K is roughly 9790 m/s. It should be noted that typical chemical reactions do not occur at such elevated temperatures, but plasma systems do.
In a plasma system, accelerated by the voltage difference of a simple 9 volt battery, the hydrogen plasma is accelerated by an Electric field across an equipotential difference of 9 volts and if one assumes that the hydrogen ion is singly ionized the acceleration of the ion can related to the potential difference as:
                    a        =                              F            m                    =                                    qE              m                        =                                          -                                  q                  ⁡                                      (                                                                  ϕ                        2                                            -                                              ϕ                        1                                                              )                                                              md                                                          (        3        )            Where “a” is the acceleration; “F” is the force; “m” is the mass; “E” the electric field; “q” the charge (1.6×10−19 Coulomb); “d” the distance separating the 9 volt potential difference; and φ2 and φ1 are the potential differences at the end point (0 volt potential) and beginning point (9 volt potential) respectively. If the ion travels the complete distance between the potentials to acquire a 9 volt change the energy gained can be expressed as:
                                                                        Δ                ⁢                                                                  ⁢                ɛ                            =                            ⁢                                                                    ɛ                    2                                    -                                      ɛ                    1                                                  =                                  Fd                  =                                                            -                                              q                        ⁡                                                  (                                                                                    ϕ                              2                                                        -                                                          ϕ                              1                                                                                )                                                                                      =                                                                                            -                          1.6                                                ×                                                  10                                                      -                            19                                                                          ⁢                                                  (                                                      0                            -                            9                                                    )                                                                    =                                              9                        ⁢                                                                                                  ⁢                        eV                                                                                                                                                                    =                            ⁢                                                9                  ⁢                                      (                                          1.6                      ×                                              10                                                  -                          19                                                                    ⁢                                                                                          ⁢                      J                                        )                                                  =                                  1.44                  ×                                      10                                          -                      18                                                        ⁢                                                                          ⁢                  J                                                                                        (        4        )            Knowing the energy change and assuming an initial energy of 0, we can calculate the velocity of the hydrogen plasma as:
                    v        =                                                            2                ⁢                                                                  ⁢                Δ                ⁢                                                                  ⁢                ɛ                            m                                =                                                                      2                  ⁢                                      (                                          1.44                      ×                                              10                                                  -                          18                                                                    ⁢                                                                                          ⁢                      J                                        )                                                                    1.67                  ×                                      10                                          -                      27                                                        ⁢                                                                          ⁢                  Kg                                                      =                          41527              ⁢                                                          ⁢              m              ⁢                              /                            ⁢              s                                                          (        5        )            
In the plasma example, a simple plasma potential difference of 9 volts can result in ion velocities roughly 4¼ times larger than a chemical combustion ion at 11600K. A 4¼ larger velocity represents an increase of 3¼ times the smaller velocity. This in turn represents roughly a 10½ increase in the energy.
When referring to plasma, what is meant is ionized atomic elements, molecules, or charged substances, to include fluids, solids, and gases. The common plasma instabilities are know to one of ordinary skill in the art of plasma physics.
Using plasma systems for propulsion in the ambient atmosphere presents several difficulties. Besides the difficulties of ionization, maintaining the ionized products long enough (recombination rate) to recognize the desired acceleration, applying sufficient electric and/or magnetic fields, acquiring a reasonable ion density, one has difficulties in using electric and magnetic fields to move the plasma without polarization fields developing.